Two men from Bromley, who drove from London to Mongolia in a Nissan Micra, have raised over £5,000 for charity.

James Brooks, 20, from Chislehurst and Miles San, also 20, from Orpington, drove 10,000 miles in 40 days to raise money for the Invictus Trust, a mental health charity for teenagers based in Cornwall.

They travelled through Europe, Iran and Central Asia from July 20 to August 27.

Mr Brooks, who studies Physics at Cambridge University, said: “In the last week, the clutch had gone on the car which made it really hard. It was much more of challenge than we’d expected.

“In terms of the people we met, it was quite amazing really. People in Iran would just invite us into their homes to sleep and eat. They help people and in return, people help them.”

They also reached 5,000 metres above sea level on the Pamir highway in Tajikistan in Central Asia where they both suffered from altitude sickness.

Mr Brooks said police randomly stopped them several times.

"Only one police officer was completely corrupt, refusing to let us pass a checkpoint until we gave him money, alcohol or petrol. We ended up giving him a bag of tea instead," he said.

By the time the men reached the finish line they had been through five flat tyres and had to tape the car bonnet shut. 

Mr Brooks said the Micra has since been scrapped.